Hollywood's Brightest Celebrate Kubrick

By

Marshall Heyman

Updated Oct. 29, 2012 5:06 p.m. ET

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Jack Nicholson, Annette Bening and Warren Beatty
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LOS ANGELES—Parties don't get more fabulous than the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Art + Film Gala, which was underwritten by Gucci and took place Saturday night at the Mid-Wilshire museum here. The evening honored the artist Ed Ruscha and the late film director Stanley Kubrick; this week, Lacma will open an extensive exhibit in Mr. Kubrick's honor.

"How often do you get all those people in a room?" asked the young "Captain America" actor, Sebastian Stan. "Maybe at the Academy Awards," he said.

You had young Hollywood: Mr. Stan's superhero co-star Chris Evans, Robert Pattinson, Bella Heathcote (of the new David Chase movie, "Not Fade Away"), Jamie Bell and his paramour Evan Rachel Wood (a face of Gucci who performed a few torch songs at cocktails) and the gorgeous Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, in a gorgeous plunging green Gucci gown.

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Diane Keaton and artist (and honoree) Ed Ruscha
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You had old Hollywood: Warren Beatty and Annette Bening, who commuted to the party with Jack Nicholson; Diane Keaton, who exchanged contact information with the ethereal singer Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine at the end of the night; Malcolm McDowell of "A Clockwork Orange," Jane Fonda, Carole Bayer Sager, Ellen Barkin and Ryan O'Neal.

Then you had what you could call middle Hollywood, otherwise known as everyone in between: Cameron Diaz, Kerry Washington (who brought her parents), Drew Barrymore, Jeremy Renner, Amy Adams, Sean Penn, Salma Hayek, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Steven Spielberg, Will Ferrell, and Justin Theroux and Jennifer Aniston, who was showing off a plunging neckline and a blinding engagement ring.

And then you had the current media sensation who had the possibility of outshining them all: the K-Pop star PSY, otherwise known as Park Jae-sang, whose song "Gangnam Style" is completely inescapable.

"I find him unique and talented," said Eva Chow, the evening's co-chair with Leonardo DiCaprio (in absentia, due to filming back in New York), adding that the evening would raise the museum $3.5 million.

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Sean Penn and Eva Chow, a co-chairwoman of the Lacma Art and Film Gala.
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"I just heard of him," said the actress Minka Kelly, there with her new boyfriend, Mr. Evans. "I'm under a rock."

Would Ms. Welch, who was wearing a Gucci horsebit necklace as a head piece, bring PSY up on stage to perform with her? "Maybe at the end of 'Dog Days Are Over,'" she suggested, referring to one of her more popular tunes. "Wouldn't that be incredible?" We told her it would be.

"Did you want vegan or vegetarian?" a waiter asked a Gucci minidress-clad Ms. Heathcote, as he removed the Beef Wellington from her place setting.

A vegan option was just one of the many of the Hollywood touches to an evening that included opening remarks by the former Warner Bros. honcho Terry Semel, a board member at Lacma and a good friend of Mr. Kubrick's. As if the benefit was a town hall meeting, Mr. Semel called out Mr. O'Neal, who starred in "Barry Lyndon," to speak briefly about the director. A microphone was found and passed to Mr. O'Neal.

"Kubrick said to me, 'If you ever come upon a time when people ask about me and you could tell them, don't,'" remarked Mr. O'Neal. "So I'll pass it on to the next person."

Then Mr. Semel called out a surprised Mr. Nicholson, who starred so famously in "The Shining": "Jack, I know you don't like to talk in public, but can we egg you on to say something?"

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The Korean pop-star PSY
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Begrudgingly, the gravelly voiced Mr. Nicholson acquiesced. "There's nothing else to do but agree with my colleague Ryan O'Neal. I'll just say that when I heard he'd passed, my very first thought was, 'F—, I'll never work with him again.' He would have loved that."

After Mr. Nicholson, it was Matthew Modine's turn, from "Full Metal Jacket." "Jesus Christ, Terry," Mr. Modine said. "I can't tell you how many times in the last 27 years people have asked what he was like. It's none of your goddamn business."

There aren't many people left with the mystique of Mr. Kubrick anymore, a point of view elucidated by Mr. Hanks, who introduced Mr. Spielberg who in turn honored Mr. Kubrick. Mr. Hanks gave one of the best speeches we have ever heard at a party of this ilk.

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Actress Evan Rachel Wood and actor Jamie Bell
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"I'm here to talk about a guy, who is going to talk about a guy," said Mr. Hanks. "I'm going to talk about a guy who altered the history of motion pictures who's going to talk about a guy who altered the history of motion pictures. I'm going to introduce a guy who's a cinematic genius, who's going to talk about a guy who's a cinematic genius." It went on like that for some time: it was elliptical and heartfelt and humorous and got at the root of why we love movies and not just movie stars in fancy dresses, and why we come to a place like Lacma to celebrate them and honor their artistic legacy.

Without the influential work of Messrs. Spielberg and Kubrick, added Mr. Hanks,"I might have just become a fire marshal who would be aghast at the number of people who have been crowded into this room."

There were about 490 people in that room, and they were, of course, exceedingly glamorous. One, if you'll recall, was Ms. Welch, who by this time had changed into yet another ethereal Gucci gown and gave one of those four song performances you remember for a really, really long time. And, if you'll recall, another of those people was PSY, the Korean pop sensation.

What were his impressions of the evening?

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Actress Amber Heard
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"My first impression?" he asked. "Beautiful."

"My second impression?" he asked. "Beautiful."

Would he be performing his hit song? "I'm afraid this isn't the right place for 'Gangnam Style,'" he said. "This is too formal for 'Gangnam Style.'"

He paused for a moment: "This is the kind of scene I've only seen in the movies.

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